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Relate Command

The arc relate command helps you explore relationships between different entities in the knowledge graph. It shows nodes that are connected to a specific entity, such as a commit, file, PR, or issue.

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Usage

arc relate node <node_id> [options]

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Subcommands

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node

Show nodes related to a specific entity.

arc relate node commit:abc123

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Node ID Format

The node ID follows this format: <type>:<id>, where:

• <type> is the type of node (commit, file, pr, issue, etc.)
• <id> is the identifier for that node

Examples:

• commit:abc123 - A commit with hash abc123
• file:src/main.py - A file at path src/main.py
• pr:123 - Pull request #123
• issue:456 - Issue #456

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Options

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Examples

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Basic Usage

arc relate node commit:abc123

This will show all nodes directly related to commit abc123.

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With Maximum Depth

arc relate node file:src/main.py --max-depth 3

This will traverse the knowledge graph up to a depth of 3 to find related information.

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Filtering by Edge Types

arc relate node pr:123 --edge-types REFERENCES,MODIFIES

This will only include relationships of type REFERENCES or MODIFIES.

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Filtering by Node Types

arc relate node issue:456 --node-types commit,pr

This will only include related nodes of type commit or pr.

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Output Format

The default output format is a text-based tree showing the related nodes:

Related Nodes for commit:abc123
├── MODIFIES → file:src/main.py
│   └── MODIFIED_BY → commit:def456
├── PART_OF → pr:123
│   ├── REFERENCES → issue:456
│   └── AUTHORED_BY → user:jane
└── AUTHORED_BY → user:john

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Edge Types

Common edge types include:

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Node Types

Common node types include:

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Troubleshooting

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No Results Found

If no results are found, try:

1. Increasing the maximum depth with --max-depth
2. Checking if the node ID is correct
3. Running arc build to ensure the knowledge graph is up to date

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Performance Issues

For large repositories, the relate command may take some time to execute. To improve performance:

1. Use a smaller maximum depth
2. Filter by specific edge types or node types
3. Run an incremental build first: arc build --incremental

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See Also

• Why Command - For understanding the decision trail behind a line of code
• Trace Command - For tracing the historical changes to a file or line
• Tracing History Examples - For more examples of using the relate command